Football Preview: Indians looking for first win against Warriors
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — Last season, the Hillsboro Indians were hard-pressed to have consecutive home games, playing five of their first six games on the road. This week, they will be hosting their second opponent in a row as the Goshen Warriors come to town, and one team will leave the game with their first win of the season.
The Warriors enter Friday's game with an 0-1 mark after being defeated by Ross 31-0. Hillsboro enters the game after being defeated by the Western Brown Broncos last week, 49-18. In that game, HHS had an offensive touchdown (Christian Wildey), a defensive touchdown (Tyrand Cumberland) and a special teams touchdown (Chase Gilliland).
"I thought the level of play (last Friday) was what we needed," Hillsboro head coach Brian Spicer said. "I wasn't disappointed with our aggressiveness. We weren't intimated, we played hard and that was huge. I was disappointed after our last scrimmage, but I didn't feel that way after the Western Brown game."
Though Spicer was pleased with the way his team continued to play hard, there were still mistakes that were made.
"There were mistakes, but there were positives too," Spicer said. "I saw a lot of things out of players that I wanted to see.
"Certain players, their play level increases, and we got to see who some of the playmakers were. Sometimes we didn't execute the way we needed, but we are looking for our best players and it is going to take some time."
HHS will have a couple setbacks this week without Skylar Murphy, out this week with a concussion suffered in last week's game, and Logan Lesley, who will miss the remainder of the season as he suffered a broken femur right above the knee in Friday's loss to Western Brown.
As for the Tribe's opponent, the Warriors will line up with a Wing-T look offensively, and they want to run the ball all the time, just the opposite of the Broncos in the season opener.
Goshen returned eight lettermen from a three-win team from last season. The Warriors have two returning offensive tackles in seniors Greg Burress and Dylan Owens (who also plays TE). Their halfback is junior Marcus Casey and quarterback is junior Brandon Steele.
"We are going from one extreme to another," Spicer said. "We are going from facing a spread team with an empty backfield to a Wing-T team."
The defense of the Warriors is similar to Western Brown, but Spicer said he won't know exactly what they are going to use against his team because of the HHS offensive formations.
"I wouldn't be surprised if they run their defense like Western Brown," he said.
One problem for HHS is still the inexperience. One game at the varsity level isn't enough to get accustomed to the style of play on Friday nights, but HHS now has players who won't even have that experience, replacing those injured last week.
"We are still lining up with kids who have never played before," Spicer said. "The 'no experience at all' excuse is gone for most of the players, but not all of them.
"Playing Goshen … they like to come up and hit. They are physical, and we need to watch our matchups. We can't get beat up on, so we have to pay attention and rotate."
One thing about the Indians is they want to continue to get better each week.
"We've looked at the scouting report, did a walkthrough on Monday and practiced this week," Spicer said. "The neat thing is their excitement … they want to get better and bounce back quick.
"It will be interesting going from week one to week two. Week one is over, and if we want to win, we better not be the same team as last week. We need to understand what we need to do and what they do … the excuses for last week are gone, and we need to be ready to play."
HHS and Goshen will kick off at 7:30 p.m. from Richards Memorial Field.[[In-content Ad]]
The Warriors enter Friday's game with an 0-1 mark after being defeated by Ross 31-0. Hillsboro enters the game after being defeated by the Western Brown Broncos last week, 49-18. In that game, HHS had an offensive touchdown (Christian Wildey), a defensive touchdown (Tyrand Cumberland) and a special teams touchdown (Chase Gilliland).
"I thought the level of play (last Friday) was what we needed," Hillsboro head coach Brian Spicer said. "I wasn't disappointed with our aggressiveness. We weren't intimated, we played hard and that was huge. I was disappointed after our last scrimmage, but I didn't feel that way after the Western Brown game."
Though Spicer was pleased with the way his team continued to play hard, there were still mistakes that were made.
"There were mistakes, but there were positives too," Spicer said. "I saw a lot of things out of players that I wanted to see.
"Certain players, their play level increases, and we got to see who some of the playmakers were. Sometimes we didn't execute the way we needed, but we are looking for our best players and it is going to take some time."
HHS will have a couple setbacks this week without Skylar Murphy, out this week with a concussion suffered in last week's game, and Logan Lesley, who will miss the remainder of the season as he suffered a broken femur right above the knee in Friday's loss to Western Brown.
As for the Tribe's opponent, the Warriors will line up with a Wing-T look offensively, and they want to run the ball all the time, just the opposite of the Broncos in the season opener.
Goshen returned eight lettermen from a three-win team from last season. The Warriors have two returning offensive tackles in seniors Greg Burress and Dylan Owens (who also plays TE). Their halfback is junior Marcus Casey and quarterback is junior Brandon Steele.
"We are going from one extreme to another," Spicer said. "We are going from facing a spread team with an empty backfield to a Wing-T team."
The defense of the Warriors is similar to Western Brown, but Spicer said he won't know exactly what they are going to use against his team because of the HHS offensive formations.
"I wouldn't be surprised if they run their defense like Western Brown," he said.
One problem for HHS is still the inexperience. One game at the varsity level isn't enough to get accustomed to the style of play on Friday nights, but HHS now has players who won't even have that experience, replacing those injured last week.
"We are still lining up with kids who have never played before," Spicer said. "The 'no experience at all' excuse is gone for most of the players, but not all of them.
"Playing Goshen … they like to come up and hit. They are physical, and we need to watch our matchups. We can't get beat up on, so we have to pay attention and rotate."
One thing about the Indians is they want to continue to get better each week.
"We've looked at the scouting report, did a walkthrough on Monday and practiced this week," Spicer said. "The neat thing is their excitement … they want to get better and bounce back quick.
"It will be interesting going from week one to week two. Week one is over, and if we want to win, we better not be the same team as last week. We need to understand what we need to do and what they do … the excuses for last week are gone, and we need to be ready to play."
HHS and Goshen will kick off at 7:30 p.m. from Richards Memorial Field.[[In-content Ad]]